Monday 15 September 2015
Moussaka has long been one of my favourites and it is a dish I’ve made for years using a recipe that’s lost in the mists of time – possibly as old as Greek mythology itself, though much more of a hit than a myth!
There’s something about lamb and aubergine that just works so well – the combination crops up all over the Middle East.
But ever one to try something new, when I saw Rick Stein on his way from Venice to Istanbul making moussaka in Greece, it looked so inviting that I thought I would give it a go – the way everything was fried in olive oil à la Grècque just looked so tempting.
Rick uses beef in his recipe but the connection between lamb and aubergine was so great I felt compelled to use lamb. It took ages to fry everything (whereas my normal way is quite quick) but I was sure the result would justify the time.
But in the end, it just underwhelmed me. Actually, in truth I found it a bit lacking in flavour on the day I made it but very good the next day (and the one after). It was as if the olive oil had subdued rather than enhanced everything else so it only really tasted of the oil.
So nice try, but I’ll stick to my own way, main difference being multiple layers of potatoes and aubergine interspersed with the meat sauce. I did however like his version of the Béchamel sauce so I shall continue to use that.
Oh, and Rick, the reason you can use Gruyère cheese if you can’t find Graviera is that the latter is just the Greek word for the former – they are one and the same!